We were a little late getting out the door for our walk this morning, so we had to cut it short. Right after breakfast, we met Tootie and Rodger for our standing Thursday morning golf game. This was the last game of this winter as they are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning and starting the homeward journey to Michigan. As usual we had a lot of fun playing together and when we finished, decided to head to Burger and Shake for a farewell lunch. We exchanged email addresses as John and I plan to visit them along with several other Michigan friends this summer.

When we got back home John headed right over to Stan's to continue working on the porch. He thinks he'll have it all done sometime tomorrow. I spent my afternoon going through the rest of our food items, getting them ready for summer storage, and then making another shortcake so we can finish up the strawberries we brought down in the fall. John went to wood carvers after supper--this is the final one as most of the carvers are leaving and Wallace, the leader, will also be away.

While John was gone, I watched American Idol and CSI. We enjoyed the shortcake after he got home and then called it a day. Only eight more days until we hit the road for home.

We had about a 15 minute rain storm last night--this was the first rainfall here since September. John and I have forgotten what a rainy day is like, but I'm sure we'll experience a few when we return home to Minnesota. The shower brought much cooler temps this morning which required us wearing our hooded sweatshirts for our morning walk.

John and Tim went off after breakfast for the men's nine hole golf game. There were 14 guys playing this morning--the biggest group yet. The teams played a best ball scramble with John's group ending with par. Following lunch, John spent a few hours over at Stan's working on the porch. My day was spent sorting through our canned goods deciding what would be left here for next fall and what we'd take home. I also sorted through more clothing and got quite a bit packed up.

The Stone's invited John and Natalie and us over for supper this evening. Nancy served a delicious meal of baked pork chops, potato salad, vegetables, and salad. Natty provided the dessert. We all ate plenty of good food and had a fun evening visiting. We just returned home when Tim and Mary Ellen stopped in to say good-bye. They are starting out for home tomorrow and will be doing some sightseeing and visiting with friends as they make their way back to Michigan. John and I made plans to visit them sometime this summer.

We spent what remained of the evening watching a little TV before heading off to bed.

Things are really starting to slow down here on the fort. As we take our morning walk we notice more and more places closed up for the summer.

After breakfast, I headed down to the club house for the ladies' nine hole golf. There were only seven of us playing today as a couple of the women have already headed north for home. We had a slight mist this morning, so the course was a little muddy in spots--I need to give my shoes and golf clubs a good cleaning before playing again on Thursday. The ladies had lunch at the club house after the game--this was our final one until next fall.

John spent his day installing the screening on the Metcalf's porch. It really looks nice and has made a wonderful addition to their home. He's hoping to get the job done this week as he needs to start getting our house ready to leave for the summer. This afternoon I continued some packing and made a hotdish for the RV park potluck. Tim and Mary Ellen picked us up as usual. There were only about 24 people tonight, our final potluck, and only one table for cards. Ginny Johns won the first game and I won the second. We had such a fun evening with lots of laughs. We'll really miss our Tuesday night gatherings and being with our friends.

It was a few degrees cooler with a slight breeze this morning. It stayed cloudy most of the day with some sunshine peeking through every once in a while and that help keep the temps at a more comfortable level. I keep thinking about how much colder it's going to be up north and I try to soak up all the warmth that I can right now.

John and Tim left for wood carvers right after breakfast. I spent the morning changing bed linens and doing laundry. Actually, I spent most of my day doing laundry and packing more things for the trip home. One forgets all the odd little things you bring and then have to find space to pack them back up for the trip home. It fit in the car coming down, so it must fit in for the trip back.

After lunch John headed over to Jack's to cut all the strips for installing the screening. With that job done, he went back to Stan's and got all the cut pieces painted. Next step is to install the screening and put up the strips. The end of this job is in sight. Sam also called while John was gone to let him know that there is another leak in the solar tubing on the condo roof, so that's another little job to get done before we leave.

We took a little golf cart ride after supper. The humidity and temps were very pleasant so we turned the AC off for the night. Suppose to be nice and warm again tomorrow. Ended the evening with some reading and TV.

It was cloudy and humid this morning with the temps in the upper 60's when we left the house for our walk. It was so warm, we were able to be in shorts and tee shirts--no long sleeves needed today.

Following breakfast, we got cleaned up and headed off to Sunday School and church. Next Sunday will be our final one at Frontier Baptist until next fall. When we finished lunch, John decided to hang the solar screens we picked up on Friday morning. It didn't take him long to put them up and they really make a difference in keeping the sun and heat out of the house.


Since the weather was so warm this afternoon, we spent most of our time inside enjoying the AC and watching the rest of the NCAA tournament. I took a quick trip outside to take a couple of photos of our trees with their pretty spring green color.


This evening Lloyd, Ginny, Tim, and Mary Ellen came over for cards--we played a couple of games of Hand and Foot. I hate to brag, but the ladies BEAT THE GUYS INTO THE GROUND!! -- they never had a chance from the first hand. The evening ended with some strawberry shortcake and conversation. We'll have to wait until next fall to see if the men can redeem themselves. Right now the LADIES RULE!!

We were up bright and early once again--not for our morning walk, but to have breakfast at the RV park. Every Saturday morning a breakfast of two eggs, sausage patties, and pancakes are served for the very reasonable cost of $3.50. Ten of us were heading off to Sabinal for the Wild Hog festival and decided to meet at the RV park for breakfast before heading out on our adventure.

This was the 20th anniversary of the Wild Hog Festival. We rode along with Ginny and Lloyd and arrived at the local park in plenty of time to scope out some of the food and craft vendors before purchasing our tickets for the first round of hog wrestling. From what I understand, wild hogs are captured for this event each year and sorted into different size categories with the littlest hogs being used for the little kids to catch. It then goes up to light weight, middle weight, and then heavy weight, with guys and girls teamed up 2 to a team.



The events are held in a fenced in area with a large wooden cable spool holding a large sack. The contestants sit on the spool until a hog is released and a whistle blows signaling they can capture the hog, place it in the sack, and drag the sack over the while line on the grass. The hog must be completely inside the sack with the best times winning. It was fun watching the contestants chase the hogs around the pen--some where very tentative while others just tackled the hogs. There were first, second, and third place winners with the prizes being very nice belt buckles. We went to the morning session, but there were to be more in the afternoon and again tomorrow. I was amazed at how many kids and adults signed up to compete. We were trying to get Lloyd and John to sign up, but they were too interested in getting in with the hogs.




When the morning's hog wrestling was over, we headed off in search of some lunch. There were many different foods to choose from and eventually everyone had settled on something to eat. The remainder of our time at the festival was spent checking out the different craft vendors and enjoying the entertainment. It was an extremely hot day, so we called it quits around 2 p.m. and headed back to the fort. Of course, we had to stop at Pico's for our ice cream fix before heading back to the house.

Today was an early and very busy one. John and I got up at 6 a.m. and were out the door to Del Rio by 7 a.m. We had to pick up more paint for the porch job and the solar screens that we had ordered earlier in the week. We needed to be back on the fort by 11 a.m. to catch the bus for the Laughlin Air Force Base tour. First stop was Sherwin Williams for the paint, and then Del Rio Glass and Mirror for the screens. We were making good time, so our final stop was I Hop for breakfast. We arrived back home a little over 2 1/2 hours after we left, and had plenty of time to get ready for the tour.

Forty six people gathered in the Service Club parking lot to board the bus for the base. First on the agenda was lunch. We were served a very nice buffet style meal that everyone seemed to enjoy.


Following lunch, we walked a short distance to a building where pilots sit in a chamber to experience the affects of altitude and how to recognize the different signs that may indicate they are being adversely affected by it. The pilots come here to be tested every five years. We learned that pilot safety is a number one concern.


Our next stop was a bus tour of the flight line. We rode out and saw all the different training planes with some flight crews getting ready for training flights. There were a couple of hundred planes all lined up outside of a huge shelter. We were told that all the planes could be gotten under cover in an hour in case a hail storm were to occur.

Our final stop on the tour was a demonstration by the military dogs who provide security, bomb and drug detection, and much more. This dog did a great job even though he got a little distracted by the crowd. I, for one, would not like to be chased by him.

We were are a pretty tired bunch on the ride home. Of course, some of us had to make one last stop--you guessed it--Pico's. What's an adventure without a little ice cream to end a fun time.

This evening John went to visit with Jack Simpson to line up a time for using his table saw to finish getting the wood ready for the porch screening. I was tired, and decided to stay home and just relax. John finished his night watching some more NCAA Tournament. We are almost down to the final four. Tomorrow we'll be off to a pig festival or something like that. Never a dull moment here.